Guild Wars 2

I am not sure if this is a bug or intended but my transmuted exotic axes now have rare stats on them.

The only thing I can think of is that I applied rare sigils to them, (because I was to cheap to buy the more expensive exotic sigils) would this have converted the overall stats to rare?

I would hate to think that I was sloppy enough that when I transmuted them I carried over the rare stats instead of the exotic, but can you do that when applying only the Reaver skin?

So to state my question plainly to avoid confusion it is: Can ArenaNet roll out content to keep both player bases happy?
- Yes, but the extremes of both will never be happy with anything.

If so then how (please don’t say cosmetics, that only will work for so long)?
- I think the current model is working well for most casuals, but the only thing that will keep the truly hardcore around is tons more permanent and very challenging content.

Other questions I have are: Is appealing to hardcore players even part of Anets strategy?
- No, the current direction of the game does not favor the truly hardcore. This should not come as a suprise since they made it clear that they were not going to have raids. 10 months later, no raids. So there is nothing for the extreme hardcore to grind on, no vertical gear stat progression tree to keep climbing.

What will happen to a major MMO that chooses to be casual (I think this is the first time we’ve seen this)?
- Since there is no monthly fee, they will do fine by supporting themselves through a cash store. They are catering to the main stream player that has money to spend, most MMO’s are moving away from designing their content mostly for hardcore. It comes down to economics, you can make much more money catering to the main stream gamer rather than the small subset of hardcore players that devour content faster than it can be produced.

There are many more styles of play than just hardcore and casual. There are even different levels of said labels. And many of these playstyles can and currently do co exist in GW2.

What will never co exist are the extremes of both playstyles.
1- the hardcore player that burns through content like it is tissue paper
2- the casual that randomly logs in and wants everything the hardcore has without doing anything for it.

Curunen.8729:

That’s the problem – the principle of a “living world” is great, however the actual goals set for each section have been on the whole, a grind.

Dragon bash – I didn’t really bother with this at all because I wasn’t interested in the skins, and most of the achievements are monotonous grinding – eat x amount of food, kill x amount of holographic minions…

So while I agree with the living story in principle, it needs to be made far more engaging than its current state.

I have to agree with this statement. I want so badly to get into the living story but find much of the content very much a grind. So I just do the parts of it that don’t feel like a grind.

I hated poping the pinatas, that was just pointless. Even though the burning of the effigies could have been a grind I actually walked from dragon to dragon completing events along the way. This made it much more fun for me, while going through areas of the game that I hadn’t seen in some time.

Motoko.2875:

Living Story and constant content does not fix the core problems of this game and why so many people have left and many more continue to leave.

After reading the OP, I am not sure how these comments add to the discussion in this thread. The OP was not discussing core problems or populations issues.

The post simple lays out an opinion of how the Living Story provides continual new content. This content, even though temporary, is still content no matter whether you miss past events ot not. New content is always coming, whether you enjoy it or not is another story.

rfdarko.4639:

tcat.6725:

rfdarko.4639:

Simple solution – /block should mute these cosmetic items.

I so hope this is true. I will give a try later when I login.

Doesn’t work currently – I was just suggesting it

What a tease

rfdarko.4639:

Simple solution – /block should mute these cosmetic items.

I so hope this is true. I will give a try later when I login.

ALeetNoob.4830:

What affects mobs aggro tables (for the most part) in guildwars, in order of importantance.

1.closest target to them
2.who is dealing damage
3.top damage dealers
4.who is using a shield / has more toughness and overall armor

While there are no tanks, people sometimes toss around the word anchor. Where as a class such as a guardian with high toughness is more likely (not all the time) going to be attacked, he can use this knowledge to help position the mobs so the other damage dealers can hit more targets in the aoe and use the higher damage, rooted moves like hundred blades more freely.

for a necromancer, defensive use of death shroud also helps survivability.

While having high toughness does let you survive easier, dodges/invulnerabilities are the most important, even for classes like guard who have a lot of sustain.

Are you sure about the aggro priority? I was in a Group event in Orr and the Champ kept targeting me, no matter what I did. I kept getting killed and everytime someone rezzed me the darn thing came right back at me. No amount of running or dodging helped. I even stopped all outgoing damage. The thing was stuck to me like a heat seeker.

I have to agree with the OP. Whether it is the bell or the horn, some people just stand in populated places and try their best to annoy. There is nothing worse than having my earbuds in and then some player starts up with the bell or horn hitting the same high note over and over and over. It would be great if we could somehow silence them.

You seem to have the gist of it. Only 1 way to level fast and it cost lots of gold. If you don’t have the gold or don’t want to spend the money to get gems and convert to gold, you are going to have to play through some sort of content.

In fact I never advertise directly for my guild, at least not in open chat.
I usually talk about a friendlist of skilled players. I like to talk extensively to people who whisper to me in order to see if they share my philosophy of the game, and then I may friendlist them. When I can I would run dungeons with these people, but I never talk about recruiting people early on.
I think this is a respectful approach, and I see it as the only way to find other good players (apart from the lucky random PU run).
This method has worked a number of times, but the amount of people getting offended by it is astonishing. I came here to try and understand why

You want to understand why people are offended, then you should look to your own approach. Take your OP for example, several of your opinions are offensive to the majority of the player base. You come off as, I am better than you and you should acknowlwdge that. Why do I need to acknowledge that you have better gaming skills? kitten? Also you come across as telling others they are bad players and should realize their bad playstyle is ruining the game for you.

So I read your post again and let me see if I understand you now:

“It appears as if the community would like to stay bad and play only with bad people.”

“I believe this is not benefiting the game in itself because it promotes stale and boring gameplay additions….”

So your opinion is that the “bads” are not recognizing your skill (and those like you) or improving themselves enough, therefore GW2 designers will create stale and boring content to appease only them.

If this is the point you are trying to make, I would have to strongly disagree.

Is this thread for real? Is the OP really asking why people make fun of him on the forums and LA when he starts to brag about how good he is at this game? Thank you for the silly post, it gave me a good laugh. I especially enjoyed when the OP tried to compare playing a video game to a professional athlete.

1. I hear the dungeons are hard from some sources, and then I hear from others that they are facerolling zergfests (which I essentially take to mean “easy”). What is your take?

- I don’t run dungeons so I can’t comment here

2. I hear that populations are decreasing, making older or lower level content difficult to group up for where grouping is required. Have you found this to be true? (If not, what server are you on?) Does this even matter seeing that an LFG tool is being developed?

- I can only comment on my server, Blackgate, which is very busy. everytime new content comes out I will end up in overflow at some point. When I roam on my low level alts many of the zones will have other players running around. WvWvW is always busy with a wait. I can truly say I have not seen a drop off since I have been playing, only periods of increased activity when new content is introduced.

3. Is it true that this game does not require gear grind to enjoy the content, or is that a myth and I will most certainly be expected to have a certain level of gear before I can enjoy certain content? (and I mean outside of level-appropriate gear: I read the terms “exotic” and “ascended” alot.)

- I am a casual player and solo alot, saying that I can also confirm that there is no gear grind. I completed most content in blue and green gear, only when I hit 80 did I even consider rares and exotics. That level gear only makes the game a little easier for me, but I did not see it as necessary to play the game.

4. How strong an impact does the cash shop have on gameplay? I read accusations of pay-to-win mechanics sneaking their way in: fact or fiction? Is it really just a collection of RNG vanity items and leveling boosts or is it an absolute necessity that will end up costing me more than a subscription would?

- The Cash shop has no impact on the game for me, it is full of vanity items i really don’t need. Nothing in there that makes the game pay to win.

5. Is all the nay-saying just impatience, and GW2 is simply going through its growing pains? Is it a game with great potential that failed to deliver and will ultimately fail? Or is it just a themepark that offers tons to casual players but nothing to hardcore players?

- The game is going throug hsome growing pains, but they are minor and have no impact for my style of play. I find much of the complaining comes from the impatience of players that consume content way too fast. I consider myself casual and this game is perfect for me.

Fun is subjective. What you describe as fun does not sound like fun at all to me. Your fun seems to be centered around dungeons that need better mechanics on the boss fights. Do you find any other aspect of the game fun or just dungeon boss fights?

GW2 is the best MMO for the money out there today.

I am a casual player as well, only 1 level 80 on my account. This is the one of the most casual/solo friendly games on the market. Some content is designed to be harder than others and some will require you to work with other players if you want to complete it. Did you try and learn from your one and only experience in Southsun before you “immediately logged off?” If you play more difficult content and immediately run away after first contact how do you learn to adjust in order to deafeat your target? If solo face rolling a game is considered fun for you, stay in the easier content.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Daily achievements used to come naturally since it all could be done in one zone most of the time.

Now a DA has you running everywhere… What if I wanted to just park my butt in Queensdale all day and enjoy the atmosphere all the while getting an achievement.

When a game forces you to do something it feels so much like a chore. Yah no one is forcing you to complete a DA but still , back in earlier days of GW2 it was a breeze and it didn’t feel like " crap I gotta get my Daily achievements done"

This could also be the effects of laurels. What say you?

You realize it is called an achievement? They give you plenty of ways to get it done. they also give you a reason to get off your butt and explore different parts of the game. Then again if that does not appeal to you, no need to try and achieve something. Just ignore it.

Vol.5241:

I have to admit I’m somewhat biased against casual players. I know it’s bad, trying to fix that attitude.

It’s mainly cause I think some players aren’t playing smart and are wasting time (I’m looking at you folks who spend 1 minute beating on a veteran when there are 12 normal mobs behind you). And sometimes the reaction time of casual players is jsut waaay to slow.

But then again, I’m not paying for your game, so I have no right to tell people how to play. And for all I know, you may find it ‘fun’. Nothing wrong with that.

You have hit the nail on the head in your last paragraph. I understand it can be tough for gamers that really put all of themselves into the game to try and understand why it might seem like some of us are wasting time.

In my mind I am having fun and I don’t care if it isn’t smart. I see that Vet and I see a challenge that differs from banging on normal mobs. I see something different to do, otherwise it might start to feel like a grind.

To me playing smart may not be fun at all, but to you that is the only way that makes the game fun. To you I may be slow, but to me I am just right.

Good to know you are working on that bias of different playstyles.

I am done with MMO’s that make me subcribe. In my opinion this game has now made me realize that I never have to go back to that model.

Neural.1824:

And if you have the thick enough skin to actually admit it…

Speak up.

I’m not talking about poor social ability, or personality issues. I’m talking about simply being the bottom end of the “gamer” list.

I find this amusing.

I consider myself a gamer. I don’t log in everyday, run dungeon, factals, or PVP. I enjoy the content, exploration, crafting, and alts. I do all of this at my own pace and love the way the game sets this up for me. I play for my personal enjoyment and will continue to play as long as this continues.

I find the playstyle and attitude of many, not all, that want to push through a dungeon, or rant on a pvp battlefield unenjoyable. So I stay away from that activity. I don’t care about acended or legendary items, they have no impact on my playstyle.

This does not make me a bottom dweller of the"gamer" list. I paid the same money for this game as everyone else. We all get to choose how we want to play this game, we are all gamers. Some of us take it more seriously than others, so be it. We can all play how we want to so why throw lables around? Play if you enjoy it, stop if you don’t. Very simple.

I’m talking about simply being a gamer.